Bloomberg Sides With Spitzer On Medicaid

NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, speaking this morning on his weekly radio show with WABC’s John Gambling, said he thinks Gov. Eliot Spitzer is “going in the right direction” when it comes to Medicaid.

The mayor praised the governor for investing in preventative care – by adding money to fund anti-smoking programs, for example – and said Spitzer’s proposal to make Medicaid dollars follow beneficiaries “makes sense.”

“I think the Governorâ€™s doing a good job here,” Bloomberg said. “Heâ€™s not going to please everybody and the thing that heâ€™s got to worry about, and I think he really is cognizant of it, is when you make change, youâ€™ve got to do it slowly so that you can transition.”

(Snip)

“Itâ€™s controversial, there are people whose axes are gored and theyâ€™re going to fight. You have individual Assembly and Senate members who fight for their districts, thatâ€™s what theyâ€™re supposed to do. You know, theyâ€™re hired to represent their districts by the people and then their voters will hold them responsible.”

“But you need a strong executive at the top to lead the whole thing and I think that, you know, Eliot is going in the right direction.”

Read the entire transcript of Bloomberg’sÂ comments on this topic here. The mayor did also say that he doesn’t agree with Spitzer on everything and wants more aid for the city.

Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican, has beenÂ very helpful, financially speaking, toÂ the Senate Republicans and state GOP. Â